just had to share my love for my 08 felt b12…
i was a victim of a hit and run last fall…pch, by zuma beach. knocked unconcious, lacerations, broken femur, air lifted to ucla, etc. afterwards to cheer me up, my wonderful wife bought me one of the last 2008 56cm felt b12s in the so. cal area. it sat in the garage as i recovered and i probably spent hours just looking at it and hoping i’d one day recover enough to ride it.
well, i did and i have… and i love it. i used to think carbon was slightly over-rated… and still believe it’s the engine that matters. but wow, what a difference.
my past tri bike was a hed v04. basically a test mule for hed to test their aero wheels/bars, but that they sold online… aluminum, not very aero, not comfortable, not tri geometry. i bought it from a friend being new to tri because it was a good deal and looked cool. for reference, my other bikes are a merlin agilis, comfortable but not particularly stiff enough for my 175-180lbs (fr derailleur chain rub, rear wheel rub, etc) but no paint to chip and decently light; and a 853 steel commuter mtb/roade bike. before the merlin i rode a gunnar roadie (also 853 steel) and loved that ride… miss it.
the felt is just amazing compared to the hed. much more aero, much lighter (i fly up climbs), the geometry makes descents feel 100x more stable (having the front wheel out more forward keeps me from the over the handlebars feeling i used to get on the hed), and the carbon absorbs the little bumps so that at the end of a 4-5hr ride i don’t feel beat up. i had used the seat extender to slide the seat forward on the hed so my positioning is actually pretty similar, but the ride is just so much more comfortable and i can get the bar out in front enough to climb standing without my knees hitting the base bar.
for those grouches that insist tire pressure, etc make a bigger difference, well i’m using the same tires/wheels/pressures (i gave my wife the ttr3 wheels that came with the b12 for her felt z65) so i am in fact using the same wheels as on the hed (powertap sl on mavic cxp33)… so it’s not the wheels.
anyways, just had to share the felt love… makes me smile with every ride. those of you considering a felt (or any new carbon tri bike), go for it.
jksu